Uconn

Connecticut guard Brianna Banks (13) breaks away during the first half of a NCAA college basketball game against St. John's, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, at St. John's University in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

STORRS — Given that UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma and his staff try to push the Huskies at practice beyond the players' own perceived limits, the first exhibition game is often a welcome experience for everyone.

No one will enjoy today's 7 p.m. game against Division II Gannon (Pa.) University at Gampel Pa-vilion more than Brianna Banks.

The junior guard will play her first game in nine months, her first real action since going down with an ACL injury in her right knee against St. John's last season. When the injury happened and again after she had surgery March 14, the road to recovery seemed endless.

"I thought it was like a couple years or maybe forever," Banks said. "But it actually flew by really fast. After the first couple days of that painful rehab, it pretty much flew by. By the time the third month hit, I forgot what month it was."

Banks made steady progress throughout her recovery, but faced one more frustrating hurdle two weeks ago when her surgeon, Dr. Robert Arciero, said her right quadriceps muscle wasn't as strong as he wanted it to be for her to take part in contact drills.

She was a little discouraged because the medical staff wasn't sure if she was going to be cleared for the first game. Finally, on Wednesday she was cleared to participate in all drills and in tonight's preseason game.

"I went and saw (Arciero), and he checked my knee out and they saw the test I took, and the doctor said the progress that (my quad) made in the past two weeks was great," Banks said. "And then him and (athletic trainer) Rosie (Ragle) did a little talking, and he was like 'You can go for it.' All I could do was smile. And the doctor was like, `This is the first time I've seen you smile.' That's the first time he said something I wanted to hear."

After her second full practice Thursday, Banks said that while she might not be 100 percent right now she felt like her knee was 99.9 percent normal.

"I have no limitations," she said. "I am playing as hard as I am when I am on the court, and when I am off the court that is when I worry about what I have to worry about. When I am on the court, I don't even think about my knee. It is like I never got hurt."

Prior to being hurt, Banks had solidified herself as a valuable player off the bench. She used her speed and athleticism to become a disruptive defensive player, provided energy and came of age offensively.

In the 21 games she played, she averaged 7.3 points, shot 34.6 percent from 3-point range (18-of-52) and had 35 assists and 25 steals. She said Thursday that she expects to provide all that again this season.

"Yeah, and do a lot more than I did last year," Banks said. "Just trying to get better every day. (There's) just a little soreness as of right now, because it is not used to the back and forth, all that cutting and jumping. But just a little soreness, like nothing major."

Auriemma said he's keeping an open mind with Banks in terms of what she can do and how much she can play. He's in no hurry to rush her back, but he also doesn't want to impede her progress.

"I don't think we go into any game at this point saying, `We're going to play her X-amount of minutes and that's it,'" Auriemma said. "I think we just go by what's it looks like. I'm sure she's going to be winded a little bit, and I'm sure she's going to be a little bit rusty. But that's what the exhibition games are for."

Banks said she wants to play a lot of minutes in the exhibition games tonight and Tuesday against Philadelphia. She's eager to see where she stands and knock off a little bit of the rust. More than anything, though, she's just happy to be back playing. Even when she was making progress throughout recovery, it wasn't enough to make her smile.

Thursday she seemed much more upbeat than she's been in a long while.

"I'm getting to do what I love," Banks said. "I've been out for (nine) months, and I am excited to play (tonight). I wasn't close enough (before this week). It was like I was too far. And now I am here, so I am happy."

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